# The Web 2.0 Suicide machine: 165,189 friends unfriended since lauch http://suicidemachine.org/ 9:23 AM Feb 3rd from web

# Tomorrow is very palendromic in european date format 01.02.2010 6:25 AM Jan 31st from twidroid

# @dgwbirch re iphone -switch to android - the motorola milestone is cool 12:09 PM Jan 28th from web in reply to dgwbirch

# UK Govt apparently considering following US into cloud computing: http://is.gd/7dMSI 12:07 PM Jan 28th from web

# 'we are holding you under the Anti-Terrorism Act' - 'and please put [about the] spangly blue hairdryer' #UKPoliceState http://is.gd/794qj 9:24 AM Jan 27th from web

# KIds TV presenters warned under Anti-Terror act for carrying a "spangly blue hairdryer" http://is.gd/794qj #UKPoliceState 9:21 AM Jan 27th from web

# dgwbirch Heard R4: Job Centre refused ad for "reliable worker" because discriminates against unreliable workers. Hats off to Equalities Commission 4:48 AM Jan 27th from TweetDeck Retweeted by you

# ih tribune compares cyberwar with "traditional" war.I didn't realise war was a tradition 5:03 PM Jan 26th from twidroid

# "it is important to include as many views as possible":China on climate change cause.My view - it was caused by a flying spagghetti monster. 4:21 PM Jan 25th from web

# Reading Kafka's The Metamorphosis (as an ebook on my phone) and Douglas Adams' posthumously published The Salmon of Doubt. Both stimulating. 5:44 PM Jan 24th from web

# "stakes are too high to worry about my individual rights" senior uk govt adviser quoted daily telegraph.I'm scared.but not of the terrorism 5:43 AM Jan 24th from twidroid

# terror terror terror alert suicide danger al qaeda. yup I'm in the uk 5:38 AM Jan 24th from twidroid

# http://www.data.gov.uk/ new UK gov app store style mashup offering by @timbl: the raw #SPARQL query option is outrageous but cool. 4:34 AM Jan 21st from web

# cashel What happens when you cut 20 million people off of the internet and text messaging for six months? http://ow.ly/Yty7 3:53 AM Jan 20th from HootSuite Retweeted by you and 8 others

# British man arrested for twitter post joke bomb threat: http://is.gd/6ve9H #UKPoliceState The question is, wd u get arrested for retweeting? 9:07 AM Jan 18th from web

# roessler Crazy. http://www.thestandard.com/news/2010/01/15/proposed-web-video-restrictions-cause-outrage-italy 8:15 PM Jan 16th from Tweetie Retweeted by you and 1 other

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At a regular foreign ministry news briefing, Ms Jiang said: "China's internet is open." Yeah right: http://is.gd/6bk0a (http://is.gd/6f6DP) 7:28 AM Jan 14th from web

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can u spot the diff between: Google.com, Tiananmen: http://is.gd/6bjVh Google.cn, Tiananmen: http://is.gd/6bk0a (re http://bit.ly/72xMc5) 7:38 AM Jan 13th from web

# roessler

RT @mkapor: Google may exit China following breach of human rights activists email accounts http://bit.ly/72lQVy 5:56 AM Jan 13th from Tweetie Retweeted by you

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An ad campaign for some whisky in Greece has the soundbite: "I write my own script". That is so not true of anyone who buys that whisky now. 4:35 AM Jan 12th from web

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Sign outside shop nr heraklion archaeological museum boasts: "authentic copies"...?? 4:59 PM Jan 10th from twidroid

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RT @dgwbirch World of Warcraft may make 2FA mandatory because of the scale of phishing attacks http://bit.ly/7Zo79K 3:51 PM Jan 10th from twidroid

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Asked the man operating the heraklio earthquake simulator what if there's a real quake during a simulation.said he'd been wondering too. 10:19 AM Jan 9th from Seesmic

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App turns your iphone into a spy camera: http://is.gd/5UDSN 11:43 AM Jan 8th from web

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Everything is OK in the UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAQrsA3m8Bg 7:04 AM Jan 7th from web

# dgwbirch

Is 2010 really going to be the end of the euro? I suppose I'll miss it. http://tinyurl.com/ydxhbvh 5:55 PM Jan 5th from TweetDeck Retweeted by you

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Why do ppl feel compelled to fill out scientific paper intros w phrases like "With the rapid advancement of the technological revolution"? 11:35 AM Jan 4th from web

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Daughter loudly in restaurant pointing at large man. "I think that man's having a baby"... 1:19 PM Jan 3rd from Seesmic

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Natural History Mus Crete-great esp for kids. We were puzzled by one exhibit though - a wooden Noah's ark + animals http://www.nhmc.uoc.gr/ 7:11 AM Jan 3rd from web

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Worked up my Greek flash cards programme so it works well on my cellphone: http://bit.ly/7Vh0pA (will update German + Italian versions too) 1:17 PM Jan 2nd from web

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Irish Blasphemy law came into force: Jan 1 - was it really 2010 yesterday? http://bit.ly/8LiM47 1:15 PM Jan 2nd from web

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Daddy: how does father xmas know how to find your room then? 3 yr old: With his GPS... 2:03 PM Dec 25th, 2009 from web

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It seems anyone who protests against corrupt big cheeses is "mentally unstable" these days: http://bit.ly/6SRIxh, http://bit.ly/8T887o 6:28 AM Dec 25th, 2009 from web

# roessler

RT @security4all: "How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room" The Guardian http://tr.im/IoKF (via @1rick) 5:07 AM Dec 23rd, 2009 from Tweetie Retweeted by you

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Dear Ricola Swiss 'soothing herbal' Throat Lozenges. Aspartame is NOT a herb. It's an agent of hyperactivity: http://bit.ly/15Rklr 3:05 AM Dec 23rd, 2009 from web

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perpetual economic growth as an ideal isnt compatible with controlling climate change. But hey, man is only one of nature's experiments. 3:36 PM Dec 19th, 2009 from mobile web

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weather here in Heraklion seems to be commenting on the results of copenhagen. Highest winds all year. 3:13 PM Dec 19th, 2009 from mobile web

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I’m sorry but we blew up your laptop (welcome to Israel): A few pixels missing from the screen of this macbook: http://bit.ly/6drK9s 9:38 AM Dec 16th, 2009 from web

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Italy to introduce emergency measures "to protect leaders" Thursday, including blocking websites encouraging violence. http://bit.ly/6tIfxp 5:29 AM Dec 16th, 2009 from web

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http://bit.ly/4mR8XQ slide 15:"The sensing seat will be able 2 respond to simultaneous deformations in different directions":bum biometrics? 11:14 AM Dec 15th, 2009 from web

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Berlusconi - just think of all that wasted Botox: http://bit.ly/7GkpK7 (also the No B day: http://bit.ly/5ZqNLf) 11:19 AM Dec 14th, 2009 from web

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The hairiest road in Crete - when my GPS took me here I felt like it had led me off a cliff: http://bit.ly/4TAOUa 11:14 AM Dec 14th, 2009 from web

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The Italian Lega Nord's version of a white christmas: http://bit.ly/2jcEUS. They have 10% of the entire Italian vote. (from Fotios' blog) 3:36 PM Dec 13th, 2009 from web

# security4all

Headline: FB CEO Zuckerberg pictures exposed by Facebook privacy roll-back http://is.gd/5jKl2 (via @securityintern)-> priceless 12:59 PM Dec 11th, 2009 from Twitterrific Retweeted by you and 9 others

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SecureCloud 2010 in March in Barcelona, run by ENISA, CSA, ISACA, CFP now open http://bit.ly/4MnujW 9:02 AM Dec 8th, 2009 from web

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@f_bass Wow - nice journey, huh? I didn't want to get off that ship when we arrived. Congrats on having finally made it out of Italy. 10:19 AM Dec 1st, 2009 from web in reply to f_bass

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Villa Eva Gdansk - free wireless internet. #pass 6:17 AM Nov 30th, 2009 from web

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"Best Western Stansted Manor Hotel - 3 miles fr Airport." http://bit.ly/6pFbjb Liars - it is 8 ( and 4 Eur to prnt boardin pass) #fail 6:16 AM Nov 30th, 2009 from web

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So Long, And No Thanks for the Externalities: The Rational Rejection of Security Advice by Users - I tend to agree: http://bit.ly/4igDhB 3:05 PM Nov 25th, 2009 from web

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Just published short report on Quantum Key Distribution: http://bit.ly/5OaHt6 3:03 PM Nov 25th, 2009 from web

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Cloud Computing Information Assurance Framework: http://bit.ly/rBXZn ditto 10:03 AM Nov 20th, 2009 from web

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Cloud Computing: Benefits, Risks and Recommendations - new ENISA report - thanks to everyone who helped us with this: http://bit.ly/CLeIX 10:02 AM Nov 20th, 2009 from web

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as usual in Greece. Great resataurant, nice view, horrible cigarette smog 11:53 AM Nov 15th, 2009 from mobile web

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my daughter often says when we don't know something: let's see if the internet knows. 3:43 AM Nov 11th, 2009 from mobile web

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mafia killing in Napoli:"This video shows that in some parts of Italy, life isn't worth anything''.http://bit.ly/d1doM http://bit.ly/vjO94 3:09 PM Nov 2nd, 2009 from web

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Took out my wellington boots ready for the rain/winter and mouse jumped out. 11:28 AM Nov 1st, 2009 from mobile web

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anti smoking law in greece doesn't seem to have had much effect. 10:21 AM Nov 1st, 2009 from mobile web

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Radio4 shipping forecast announcer fired after 45 years, 1 month after saying the f-word on air. Wish I cd find an mp3 http://bit.ly/Keo3A 2:47 PM Oct 28th, 2009 from web

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kid on packed uk train playing computer game w volume full on. Nobody else seems to mind. Is this normal nowadays? 10:14 AM Oct 27th, 2009 from mobile web

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rsa europe, london 2009. Great conference. Particularly enjoyed sessions on anti anti forensics and quantum key distribution. 5:41 PM Oct 25th, 2009 from mobile web

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reading eoin colfer's hitchhikers' guide sql and very pleasantly surprised. I'd even go as far as to say it's better than mostly harmless 5:37 PM Oct 25th, 2009 from mobile web

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Why do people never ask the odds of winning e.g. the car lotteries at airports which cost $50 a ticket.Even if u ask they probby won't tell 5:10 PM Oct 19th, 2009 from web

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Noticed lots of things saying "a proportion of the proceeds goes to charity x" - then only in the small print do I find out it is 5% 5:08 PM Oct 19th, 2009 from web

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an ordinary london airport travelator -a gauntlet of armed police, fingers on trigger of automatic weapons, dogs sniffing 12:21 PM Oct 19th, 2009 from mobile web

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my daughter just requested marmite and yoghurt for pudding. Apparently its rather good 2:06 PM Oct 17th, 2009 from mobile web

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http://www.w3.org/ has a new look site - the old one was iconic. (not that there's anything wrong with this one). 2:08 PM Oct 16th, 2009 from web

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ENISA has a new director. http://bit.ly/48G23p 6:20 AM Oct 16th, 2009 from web

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8306631.stm - TIMBL apologises for the slashes. But they got the invention date wrong by 10 yrs... 2:16 PM Oct 14th, 2009 from web

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Berlusconi:Blair has "right credentials" to be EU president.http://bit.ly/HyXGl Now there's a man whose opinion I trust.http://bit.ly/P2tjM 1:57 PM Oct 14th, 2009 from web

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What happened to Global Warming? I'm a little confused. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299079.stm 1:47 PM Oct 13th, 2009 from web

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Google autocomplete suggestions 4 "evidence for": "evolution, global warming, creation, God, plate tectonics, christianity, big bang, Jesus" 8:16 AM Oct 13th, 2009 from web

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Britons - Your Country Needs You - To Come to France and Be Machine Gunned in Your Hundreds of Thousands (Kitchner) http://bit.ly/40umr6 9:40 AM Oct 11th, 2009 from web

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Gawker stalker - http://gawker.com/stalker/ - but who are these people - I have heard of Barack Obama and Paul McCartney, but the rest, ??? 7:42 AM Sep 29th, 2009 from web

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what happens to your will if you are cryogenically frozen? 7:21 AM Sep 28th, 2009 from web

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Took this photo of the moon... http://bit.ly/4kxKrO 3:36 AM Sep 28th, 2009 from web

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"Could you please bypass my office?" 9:22 AM Sep 24th, 2009 from web

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Great view of the milky way on my favourite local walk. Puts a lot of things in perspective. 2:40 PM Sep 22nd, 2009 from web

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"Judging by every metric, decriminalization [of drugs] in Portugal has been a resounding success" http://bit.ly/Eo6bH 9:05 AM Sep 18th, 2009 from web

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Apparently the 5 day work week was prompted by the 1929 crash. They say the 2008 crash might prompt a 4 day work week (norm) 9:03 AM Sep 18th, 2009 from web

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Why we should tax carbon at source. Screw Carbon Taxes (unless they're at source) - blog post http://bit.ly/MxjUq 12:04 PM Sep 12th, 2009 from web

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450 grammes of carbon (2250 Google searches, 3.5 air miles) for a litre of (Tropicana) orange juice: http://bit.ly/18FwHd 6:10 AM Sep 12th, 2009 from web

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http://bit.ly/17zwkm European Economic and Social P Committee puts some very hard questions on internet censorship and social networking. 6:02 AM Sep 12th, 2009 from web

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Entertaining my daughter via Skype video conference while her mum has a rest - something I do quite often these days. Word: babyskyping? 4:55 AM Sep 12th, 2009 from web

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imo we will never save the planet long term while constant economic growth is a sacred policy goal. 12:46 PM Sep 11th, 2009 from mobile web

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they might have less opposition to wind turbines (like them myself) if they painted them camouflage colours. Mayb it΄s to do w the birds. 12:41 PM Sep 11th, 2009 from mobile web

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Google searches use 0.2 grammes of CO2 http://bit.ly/DXdn . not the ridiculous 7 http://bit.ly/s0jy 3:49 AM Sep 11th, 2009 from web

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How to stop shoulder surfers stealing passwords: http://bit.ly/TOjmx 12:09 PM Sep 10th, 2009 from web

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Ebay snipers. Didn't know about them. E.g. http://www.bidnapper.com/ 9:57 AM Sep 10th, 2009 from web

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why not have a light on laptops which shows before I boot whether sound is muted - to avoid embarassing beeps and OS music in conferences. 6:05 AM Sep 10th, 2009 from web

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I search for my Slovakian friend, Rado Bonk and Twitter comes up with: "Did you mean: Brady Bone" http://bit.ly/lPdfp 3:18 PM Sep 9th, 2009 from web

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Brave man - Nazi deserter finally gets pardoned: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8244186.stm 4:02 AM Sep 9th, 2009 from web

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warsteiner premium verum. Nice beer! 7:48 AM Sep 6th, 2009 from mobile web

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arctic turns only land once every 1 to 3 years for breeding and fly 24000 km a year. 1:16 AM Sep 5th, 2009 from mobile web

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2 hr gmail outage last night: http://bit.ly/11xpEk 7:00 AM Sep 2nd, 2009 from web

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Jumping over the great wall of China on a skateboard: http://bit.ly/213lT 10:02 AM Sep 1st, 2009 from web

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Saw a 747 on Heraklion airport runway http://bit.ly/1ocMDa - How?? 5:45 AM Sep 1st, 2009 from web

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London's surveillance cameras have solved one crime per thousand cameras per year: http://bit.ly/2CpRev 5:37 AM Sep 1st, 2009 from web

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Would you ever buy a Blu-Ray? As long as I can see approximately what's going on in a movie and understand the dialogue I just don't care. 3:07 AM Sep 1st, 2009 from web

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We the undersigned petition Prime Minister to apologize for prosecution of Alan Turing that led to his untimely death. http://bit.ly/HgqSd 11:00 AM Aug 31st, 2009 from web

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Daddy:"You are the biggest why-er in the whole wide world" Daughter:"Why?" 8:35 AM Aug 30th, 2009 from web

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"Why can't you be better at speaking Greek than yourself?" (My daughter - told her school wd make her better than me by Xmas). ) Tough qn. 4:59 AM Aug 30th, 2009 from web

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Making concrete and pouring it into a mould. It's hard work. 5:52 AM Aug 29th, 2009 from web

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@Cretan2 Well it remains to be seen if they will do it. The details are scant. 10:26 AM Aug 27th, 2009 from web in reply to Cretan2

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GSM snooping just got cheaper and easier: http://bit.ly/iieK8 7:15 AM Aug 27th, 2009 from web

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(Before I realised that I was enacting a well-known English idiom) 2:56 AM Aug 27th, 2009 from web

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Just used a sledge hammer to crack some nuts (Walnuts I found on a walk). Seemed to be the most appropriate tool lying around. 1:26 AM Aug 27th, 2009 from web

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Donkey walking hlidays. Looks like a nice passtime: http://www.walkwithdonkeys.com/ 3:29 PM Aug 26th, 2009 from web

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Microsoft photoshops black man off polish ad (original URL taken down): http://bit.ly/ssO4m 2:57 PM Aug 26th, 2009 from web

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Microsoft photoshops black man off polish ad: http://bit.ly/x6Jo5 7:44 AM Aug 26th, 2009 from web

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Facebook "virtual gifts" http://bit.ly/QgJ4 - please can someone explain why I would want one (or to spend 1 US$ on one for someone else)? 7:34 AM Aug 26th, 2009 from web

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New gadget arrived - essentially a bluetooth audio cable. http://bit.ly/18iSpt Great - computer in office plays music in living rm.no wires. 2:11 PM Aug 25th, 2009 from web

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Now the UK goverment gets in on the file sharing supression bandwagon. http://bit.ly/S8DTN 9:41 AM Aug 25th, 2009 from web

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SCIgen: An Automatic Computer Science Paper Generator http://bit.ly/15KkZ v v funny. E.g. http://bit.ly/OrvDR 8:06 AM Aug 24th, 2009 from web

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contemplating scale-independent features of universe. Could there be life (self-replicating structures) at larger or scales (time and space) 7:39 AM Aug 23rd, 2009 from web

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40% of Americans believe in creationism (and other totally loony things). Harris poll. http://bit.ly/Spno. OMG! 2:04 AM Aug 23rd, 2009 from web

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bar code, heraklion: good name for a bar. Ford escort (aka prostitute) not such a good name for a car 10:43 AM Aug 21st, 2009 from mobile web

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Building a chicken house 4:53 AM Aug 21st, 2009 from web

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greece still allows ads w cigarettes on women΄s breasts.message - associate cigs w nurture?how (oxy)moronic 12:51 PM Aug 19th, 2009 from mobile web

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sitting in the car waiting for fellow passengers to come out of a time warp they fell into in a restaurant 12:33 PM Aug 19th, 2009 from mobile web

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Working on behavioural biometrics, quantum key distribution and cloud computing - fascinating stuff! 6:06 AM Aug 19th, 2009 from web

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just unravelled 10 yrs/500 m worth of cables in a drawer. A nostalgic trip thro my gadget past. start w the smallest end of cable. 7:50 AM Aug 16th, 2009 from mobile web

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Most so-called rebellion is conformity. True rebellion usually results in being locked up in mental institutions or prisons? 3:24 PM Aug 14th, 2009 from web

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@roessler Reminds me of Douglas Adams (The Earth?). Sounds like one of those unfalsifiable hypotheses a la FSM (LMGTFY). http://post.ly/2DB7 3:52 AM Aug 14th, 2009 from Posterous

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PawSense - software to protect your computer fr cats. Blocks cat typing. Trains yr cat 2 stay off computer keyboards. http://bit.ly/iYC0 2:43 AM Aug 11th, 2009 from web

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Why can't anyone get bullet points right? 9:15 AM Aug 10th, 2009 from web

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Seek software to convert my webcam into a security camera. Must upload images by ssh (not FTP). Been some burglaries round our way. Ideas? 7:16 AM Aug 10th, 2009 from web

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Apple censors dictionary - http://bit.ly/3qauuv. Learned some new English swearwords on my latest trip to the UK - from tourists' T-shirts 4:51 AM Aug 10th, 2009 from web

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@tomd Schubert's death and the maiden string quartett second movement 2:35 AM Aug 10th, 2009 from web in reply to tomd

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recovering from flu in the uk 4:35 PM Aug 4th, 2009 from mobile web

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Watches - what's the point of them? Someone must think they're cool or how can they afford all those ads for silly swiss ones? 2:24 PM Jul 27th, 2009 from web

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having dinner on my own in hora sfakion 4:14 PM Jul 22nd, 2009 from web

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Typing in Twitter 10:06 AM Jul 21st, 2009 from web

I emphasise, that personally I'm not interested in starting something rabid. I'd like to do something to create true equality of opportunity, not yet another "we'd like to be more equal than you" movement. I'm also not interested in equality per se, only equal opportunity - non discrimination on the basis of gender. It's quite obvious that the genders are statistically speaking different in a number of features.

* Group name: hominism
* Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/hominism
* Group email address hominism@googlegroups.com

Take a look at my attempt below and tell me if I've put anything in which is wrong (not if I've missed anything - I know I have). My aim here is to show how impossibly complex a full analysis would be, not even to try attempt a full analysis. I also want to show that an incomplete analysis doesn't even give you a rough lower bound - it could even be too high if you don't take everything into account (although it's not likely to be).

**??**>> indicates a complexity rat-hole which would need to be expanded out creating further minblowingly complex analysis.

* Dig iron ore out of the ground
  * The digger manufacture including every nut and bolt **??**>>
  * The digger fuel used
      * Digging out the digger fuel from the ground
            * Oil rig - manufacture, installation, running **??**>>
      * Transporting fuel to the digger **??**>>
* The driver's work - how much less carbon would he/she use if not 
  working? **??**>>
* Transport of iron ore to the smelting works **??**>>
* Smelt the iron
      * Collect and add pig iron and carbon (to make steel) **??**>>
      * Coal used for smelting **??**>>
      * Machines used to do the smelting. **??**>>
      * Smelting works employees, the cars they use to get to work 
        etc... **??**>>
      * Mould and shape the screw
           * Machines used **??**>>
           * Employee energy and transport **??**>>
           * How much steel is wasted and/or reheated
           * Chrome plating the screw - or however they make them
             look shiny **??**>>
           * Package the screw **??**>>
* Transport to shop **??**>>
* Shop running costs **??**>>
* Advertising costs **??**>>
       * Paper used for advertising **??**>>
       * Google searches **??**>>
       .......... ETC.... ETC.....

Hopefully this is enough to make the point that this kind of analysis is absurd. Any other manufactured product I can think of is as complex as this or more. Just think about a resistor - the 4 different colours of paints it has on it and all the ingredients that go into them - not to mention an iPod, an aeroplane or an orange.

What's the implication? The implication is that all this stuff about carbon footprints of flights, foods and consumer goods is probably utter BULL. It's not that they don't have a footprint or in most cases that it is likely to be lower than the estimates. It's that the estimates are completely loopy and probably too low. A good example is the estimates for train journeys which don't take into account the building and running of all the railway stations, their lights etc...

Usually - as in the case of an estimate which only takes into account the carbon implied by fuel burned (aircraft journeys, probably), they give you a lower bound, but in the case of the screw, the estimate may even be too high because the resource use is shared in unexpected ways (by all the other products made by the same plant).

There is a simple solution!

Tax carbon at source! Use the common-sense law of continuity - what goes in must come out. Or in this case, what comes out as CO2, must come out (of the earth): no matter what mind-blowingly complex processes it is used in and even if it is used recursively to extract more carbon.

That means - tax oil extraction, coal mining, natural gas extraction and net loss of forest. Then the sums are simple and it's even easier to police. There's even no need to know which industries are using the most, because the oil companies will naturally take care of that by passing the costs of the tax on to the buyers.

It would also pass the necessary messages on to consumers since the costs would trickle emergently down into the products which used the most carbon.

Otherwise, a nice hotel...

There are several problems with this to my mind:

1. Induction and probability (requiring induction) and the fact that they appear to work are a feature of our particular universe, so you can't use them as a higher principle applying to "possible" universes (whatever that might mean in a meta-universal context). Once you allow for a universe with different "rules", you also have to give up the rules of probability which hold in this universe.
2. Even if you assume induction and fixed probabilistic behaviour, the combinations of physical constants, geometries and other laws of nature applicable in a universe are infinite, and I would guess the kind of infinite which is not divisible by the probability of a biogenic universe (one capable of engendering life). So the idea of determining a probability of a universe being biogenic is absurd.
3. He completely ignores the so-called "hard problem of consciousness". Whatever universe is like, there is subjective experience, which cannot be explained in terms of its objects (see the wikipedia article for more details).

Also he doesn't really attack God and religion from the angle which I think it most falls down on. The concept of God, when you get these people to talk about it, is completely incoherent. When they can make any kind of sense out of it, it turns out that God has none of the characteristics imputed to him by the Bible (e.g. personal - what does that REALLY mean?).

My favourite parts of the book are the exposure of e.g. religious texts such as the bible as vicious and morally abhorrent. It points out places in the bible (no, not all in the old testament), where it directly advocates the gang rape of women, mass murder for "thought crime" of non-belief (God gets very upset if you don't "believe"), attribution of sin worthy of eternal damnation just for being born (New Testament) and an instrument of execution as the central symbol of faith (if Jesus had died 20 yrs ago, would US school children wear electric chair pendants?) etc.... etc...

Certain members of my family have said "oh but our society has lost its Moral Compass" (since the 1930's) - and this is somehow connected with the loss of connection with christian faith. Yeah, bring on apartheid, bring on the psychological and physical intimidation of homosexuals for "crimes" between consenting adults, bring on mysogyny and female disenfranchisement, bring on fighting for King and Country. Bring on blasphemy as a crime. Morals in the 1930's were fantastic.

Finally, although he is right about the societal consequences of religion, I think he takes the doctrines far too seriously. As far as I can see, the doctrines of christianity and the arguments to back them up - e.g. the argument from design (and creationists especially) are so absurd, it's not worth killing trees to discuss them. It's so clearly not a rational business and I'm surprised he even bothers.

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1536414.1536440

Using this scheme, one can arbitrarily compute on encrypted data – i.e., one can process encrypted data (query it, write into it, do anything to it that can be efficiently expressed as a circuit) without the decryption key. A user can store data on an untrusted
server in encrypted form, yet still allow the server to process it, respond to (encrypted) queries etc... There is a list of “killer” applications for fully homomorphic encryption. For example, you can now process data on a completely untrusted cloud provider.

In the movie you'll see

• "Continue numbering" with the previous number as 1, turn a number to 97 or something
• Set number value (how can that be misinterpreted OR difficult to program??) turn a number to 97 and indent it by the wrong amount which then can't be undone without turning all the numbers in the entire document to one long list...
• Various failed attempts to copy bits from numbering parts which turned out OK but mysteriously screw up when pasted in this bit
• Starting a new line does not produce a new number for some reason

Step 1 - find this file
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Step 2 - open it

Step 3 - save it on the desktop (Vista won't let you save it even as admin)

Step 4 - find a line in the hosts file that says
::1 localhost

Step 5 Copy it to overwrite the original at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Voila'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7972702.stm
"The spokesman of the Chinese embassy in London said that there was no evidence to show Beijing was involved.

He suggested the findings were part of a "propaganda campaign" by the Tibetan government in exile. "

"BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese officials on Wednesday denied a so-called "media war" over the March 14 riot in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, saying that the majority of foreign journalists were covering the issue fairly."

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgxz/t423192.htm (OK that one is from the Chinese embassy but I bet it was reported verbatim elsewhere)

President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe has contained cholera - as the UN and a UK charity warned the deadly outbreak was getting worse.

Save the Children said: "If anything is certain in the chaos of Zimbabwe today it is that the cholera outbreak is not under control."

Mr Mugabe also said Western powers were plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade and overthrow him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7777178.stm

"The Zimbabwean Government has rejected widespread criticism of a new media law passed by parliament on Thursday.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the BBC there was nothing in the legislation which was intended to stifle dissent. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1795125.stm